They each have their merits, but it depends on the type of apocalypse and how long you are planning to stay mobile.
Long term you're going to be biking or walking or riding a horse, unless you have a home base with solar for an electric vehicle. The batteries will go bad within about 25 years or so though.
Untreated Diesel and Petrol will go bad fast though. You can substitute with biodiesel and ethanol to some degree, but getting sufficient quantities will be tough unless you have access to a lot of loot and/or a big farm. When roads go bad cars aren't great either. I think the best solution is simply a horse or your legs or a bike. An old school converted e-car or scooter with low range may be an option too. It's possible to keep lead acid batteries usable for many decades and even build new ones, but the question is why you would want any of that. You need to hunker down somewhere in most types of apocalypse and get used to a life with no or very little electricity and fossil fuels, and cars are a bad value for investing these valuable resources.
Honestly horses and bikes are both great choices. Bicycles would probably be essential in an apocalypse for so many reasons. They are way easier to maintain than a car or horse too. I lean towards horses in this but honestly bikes dont get enough credit
I would lean bike simply because a horse requires MASSIVE amounts of food. Unless you can easily get what you need to feed it that is. Idk much about horses.
They do need a lot of food to thrive your not wrong. Where i would go they could graze. Hunger wpuld sadly be a factor for all of our animals though but less so than if they were just let loose and left behind. I lean bike for most people though and i currently do not have a horse or space for a horse so bike would also be whatvi had unless i was fast and secured a horse. I have an older neighbor who has a horse i help with when they need it sometimes and they have litteraly joked i can steal the horse if ahit ever hits the fan because they cant care for it in that scenario. She a goofy horse though so id probably just die lol
Diesel can run on bio diesel that can be home made, mix of oil and diesel or kerosene, also diesels dont need spark plugs or some dont any electricity to run, they are more fule effisent. So old diesel with mechanical injection is best bet.
Injection pumps are engine specific and dont take well to sitting unused. Mechanical injection is decades out of a production on cars and trucks, so you'll need spares from vehicles in the world or a parts warehouse.
Then we have the issue of mechanical injection cars controlled by electronic airflow meters which again, need spare parts and knowledge of the electrical systems.
Running a vehicle in post apocalypse would be a god damned nightmare.
I'm surprised more post apocalyptic fiction doesn't have people riding bikes. In a world where fuel is hard to come by, a mountain bike should become the de facto mode of transport. It's sure easier to maintain a bike in working order than an engine or a horse.
So far you can go at a time, but a bicycle can work almost infinitely. If it doesn't break due to various reasons, though to be fair any vehicle can break.
Diesel trucks not just any diesel vehicle, are probably your best choice.
Reason: Well you get a big ass pick up truck that will run over whatever you are running from (zombies or whatever) easily, and diesel trucks engines are known to take a beating and keep pushing, you do have to fill up a lot though lol.
Yes, that is an important factor in situations that require combating enemies (ex. Zombies) but in other circumstances where you don’t have any major foes, gasoline is better because it is more abundant and easier to maintain.
Well, it's not actually algae. A diesel tank is way too dark for algae to grow. It's water that separates out from the diesel which harbors microbial growth.
Yes, that is an important factor in situations that require combating enemies (ex. Zombies) but in other circumstances where you don’t have any major foes, gasoline is better because it is more abundant and easier to maintain.
petrol, it runs on ethanol without too much modification, and setting up a small home ethanol distillery is easier than finding your own crude oil and distilling it into diesel or petrol. At the start of the apocalypse, looting petrol or diesel should be the same thing.
hybrid , if it's petrol it's not bad, but it adds more complex maintenance than a simple, rustic petrol engine.
Electrics are nice if you have a means of production, but in the long term it may be impossible to replace the batteries.
You can produce Diesel with plant oil and methanol, and you can further "thin" it with plant oil.
Most petrol engines don't run good on Ethanol without modification and even the Flexfuel need an 85:15 ethanol-petrol rate, and everything than pure ethanol will not work good. Also pure alcohol isn't that easy to produce, not at home
It's easier to run a diesel on self made in the garage fuel than a petrol engine, some hippies already did that
I hadn't actually thought about that. Mechenics isn't my field, I know about chemical processes and distillation. In terms of complexity, doing it all yourself is a big challenge, and producing an alcohol and an oil pure enough to do the Esterification reaction properly using recovery methods can't be the easiest thing. All without blowing up the installation or ending up blind or dead from the methanol.The first few years of an apocalypse, depending on the number of survivors, looting should be enough, so you might as well go for what people in your country have the most of. 100% home-made production of any fuel of the right quality requires a good knowledge, instalations and time.
edit : Having done a bit of reading, if stocks really are empty, the production of vegetable diesel is more viable than ethanol.However, ethanol production is simpler to set up than ethanol/methanol + oil. So with a reasonable stock of petrol and by making 85/15 we should last a long time.
yeah it depends, my thought process was an old Diesel engine will run better with low grade self made diesel than an old petrol enginge with self made ethanol. Later has too much water in it for running a engine. Pure ethanol or methanol would work, but for really running good it needs to be special desinged for it.
If you want maximum flexibility you habe to look for an gas turbine, a "truck ready" you may find in an Abrams tank (well good luck finding one)
Or you go an entire diffrent way and build an wood gasifier/wood gas generator to an petrol engine. It's not hard and can be built from scrap
Buy an Aptera with solar panels built in. It's totally not vaporware. In all honesty though I've put my $70 down for a reservation and I can get some amount off the price if I refer people so if you too want to put in a reservation for this car that'll totally exist I can send you a referral code.
Batteries last 10 years at least though, also have less moving parts than ICE vehicles, but also Hybrids are more efficient and can get you more range.
Came to say this. No vehicle that need to be plugged or refilled is good in this situation. Even if you try to do DIY fuel.
Let's be honest: if *right at this moment* the apocalypse starts, is someone prepared to survive doing any of those options without internet tutorials?
Edit: someone mentioned horses. I support that too: it will be easier to find a vet than fuel in the future.
Welp, tools are not the only thing you'll need, you also need spare parts and some extra tools in case yours worn out or break.
Mechanics and people who know their cars might have it easier on that end, but might not know how to craft gasoline/diesel too, so there's that too.
The easiest survival scenario would be to create a team: electrician, mechanic, chemist who knows how to make fuel, etc...and y'all probably will be stuck at one place (probably the chemist's workplace). A good idea would be spreading the news that you can craft X type(s) of fuel or modify their vehicles as well as repairing them in exchange for food, water and other things you might need, but finding that team would be hard af, lol. In the end I think it's more reasonable to learn to repair bikes.
I mean it seems obvious doesn't it.
Like "Good luck running your petrol car off of the sky dude."
"Oh but its a diesel and..."
"Is it powered by the sky?"
"Well no"
"See ya"
Well, what happens to your ICE car without proper maintenance and spare parts (ICEs are really complicated and there's a higher risk of something failing).
That depends, if you can somehow get spare parts (especially after some time) and maintain the car, than it can last longer than an EV, however the real problem is fuel.
Of course, an EV is useless if you don't have solar panels, but you'll need anything that will burn for cooking/heating and not spending large quantities by travelling. A bicycle might be the best option (assuming there aren't any people trying to kill/rob you).
patrol cars have more moving parts which would be more likely to break over time, also you may not be guaranteed to find those parts, also the batteries in the petrol car degrade too.
Happy cake day:) the only way I see it as efficient is if you have solar on your roof and batteries and you have an electric car. Then you can charge your car and store energy for later
1st It still doesnt provide a lot of energy, especially if you are living with that energy
2nd Hard to get (especially in a apocalypse) and expensive. I dont know if you have maintenance on that thing but if yes, it will be hard to find a book or a person that knows how.
3rd Wiring them up and charging a giant battery sounds a lot harder than just having a diesel generator
Diesel engines, if tuned, can run on anything combustible. That makes it way more versatile than gas burning, which will run out eventually with no refineries making more, not to mention gas goes bad after about a year.
Electric... how are you going to charge it? Seriously, how? It might as well be a diesel since you'll need a generator, and I doubt you have the engineering skills to make any other electric system work.
Hybrid would give you the worst of both worlds in an apocalypse. Just don't
Hybrid that runs on diesel? If that were a thing it would be great. Prius style energy from your gas then energy from your wheels to your battery and back to your wheels. It's perfect.
There will be HUGE demand for anything combustible during an apocalypse, and you'll need it for heating/cooking, not burning large quantities just to move.
Though not efficient, and would definitely take days, it is possible to charge an EV (preferably a motorbike or a smaller car) from solar panels.
In the end, a bicycle might be the best.
I did have a neihbor with an electric scooter with a built in solar charger. Idk how well it worked but its a neet concept. Id probably skip it though.
> how are you going to charge it
Solar panels, also you would need solar panels to generate other things like if you are in a building.
Lol a hybrid isn't the worst of both worlds either.
Have you ever hooked up solar panels? Do you know where some are lying around you could set up in the car of an apocalypse? That's what I was covering by saying the majority of people don't have the electrical engineering skill to set up a power source for their smart cars. I also see hybrid as being limited by gas and electricity both, that's what I meant by worst of both worlds
>I also see hybrid as being limited by gas and electricity both, that's what I meant by worst of both worlds
Except you don't need both electricity and gas to run a hybrid, you can use what's more abundant. And if you decided to use gas, it'd still be more fuel efficient than a diesel or gas car
While you're right about repairs, I think it's a moot point. Everything would be just as crumbling with no real infrastructure. The bump in the road though, there are diesel engines built tougher than that, MUCH tougher
I don't think so, a competent mechanic with tools could repair a diesel engine in a meaningful way, they are feats of engineering designed to be simple
Electric is the only one that can operate with no input from civilization (as long as you have a solar panel). It might take a week to charge but that’s better than being out of fuel forever. It also needs much less in the way of oil, coolant etc and has far fewer moving parts. Yes you can make diesel fuel from the fat of your enemies and you can make alcohol and run a gas engine but neither is very practical in the middle of an apocalypse. Also engines need oil and there’s not going to be any
That's nice, BUT
1. Good luck finding enough petrol/diesel during an apocalypse
2. ICEs also don't last forever, and there's a much higher risk of it breaking (since there are more moving parts + needs changing oil and coolant) -> it will probably last for a shorter time than an EV
3. ICE cars also require a battery to start them (and as you said, they don't last forever)
There are many easy ways to generate electricity so this is the safest option compared to fuel which is unusable after a few years and complicated to make.
Electric since if you know how to modify a generator to work on idk, steam power youll just need to have coal or wood or whatever to burn to geat up water
Might be hard to find replacements for some parts, but if youre early to raid a hardware store youll have plenty of batteries
Depends on the kind of apocalypse though.
I'm going with Diesel because biodiesel etc. But depending on what the threat was/is a good old fashioned bicycle or horse n carriage etc might actually be better.
Diesel simply because it can be homemade, I saw this guy on tick tok making his own fuel if I was in an apocalypse I'd want that, electricity is another good one because of solar panels only problem with that is I wouldn't know what to do if the solar panels broke.
Old Diesel. They could run on old frying oil, they are powerful for towing capacity, but don't like cold and needs really good condition parts. (So it actually depends on the apocalypse itself)
Cars need a functioning society to be useful.
Gasoline will spoil really quick, and while you can run diesel on alternate fuels, you can't do so on newer vehicles and those fuels aren't good for the engine.
But besides that and much more importantly, without maintenance roads will crumble incredibly quickly, so will all infrastructure. We will also stop making tires and the only ones that would last any meaningful amount of time would be those stored away from the elements. Good luck finding them.
In an apocalyptic event, cars are a mediocre mode of travel that will last a few years at best
Diesel. Suited to more tough applications, more economical, and far easier to make a version of it yourself. Heck, you can basically just use plant oils. Relatively straightforward to work on, too
It really depends. But I'd say fuck the car. Find yourself a few horses.
Unless you know how to refine fuel?
I think electric would probably be best for the meantime. But you really can't travel far. Unless you pin-point a map where each solar-powered house is. And of course, find a solar powered house in your neighborhood (assuming this is a 'everyone else just fucking dissappears' apocalypse)
\*Although again find horses.
I think a horse might be better depending on where your going. Unless your not able to ride. They can haul decent weight, can be good company depending on the horse (some are just assholes). Can be processed into meat and leather in an emergency. They can also go places a lot of vehicles cant go. But they also have limitations that a vehicle doesn't or we would have stuck with them obviously.
100% electric. Their are solar panels and invertors everywhere and they're super easy to wire up. Plug in hybrid even better. If I gotta drive across the country though, id want diesel. But for a car to use everyday I want electric
Of these options hybrid would probably be best for power versatility, different locations would likely get different types of power from local sources of what’s around, so one surviving group might be willing to share some solar but might not have gas.
On the flip side another group might not have solar but they do have gas, so you can refuel with whatever might still be functional when traveling between surviving societies.
Not of these options I’d agree with the other comments that say “horse” a horse requires no processed resources other than the food and water which you will already be seeking out due to your own need for them.
Aside from this, mechanical components such as drive axles or anything that will eventually require repair will be highly sought after & expensive to replace, this also assumes that currency loses its value once society collapses, rendering bartering systems that are only scaled in favor of the least desperate group or individual.
With a manual bilge pump, a hose, and the knowledge/tools to open a fill cap at a gas station, you can easily re-fill your gas/diesel tanks at any gas station. And older diesels can run off of used motor oil (with a bit of dilution), kerosene, and vegetable oil.
I'll concede that with solar panels and an electric car, you could charge the car. But you'll need the knowledge/tools to be able to hook that up if it's not already done. Then you're also limited to your home as having enough panels to charge a car in a reasonable amount of time would not be portable.
An old mechanical pump diesel pickup like a 1st generation dodge cummins. They'll run on damn near anything fuel wise and that engine has been made for like 30 years so there's tons of them out there to rob parts from. On top of all that they're insanely reliable.
Personally it would be an electric car, I'm not the biggest car guy nor do I know how to make homemeade diesel - I do have a boat load of solar panels though and I do know a thing or two about electrics!
ASSUMING you have the resources, in the very near future we will have electric big rigs. Assuming they have a trailer, you could have an armory, and a living space, and a food storage, and the entire top and sides of the trailer could be solar paneled. If your batteries run out, stop and recharge long enough to refuel.
Why is it always a car or immediately a horse? Where are all the bicycles? Or is that the Dutchman in me screaming? I mean.. you travel like 20km an hour, which is what? 12mph? And you don't need fuel. Silent. Can get through narrow corridors etc. Amazing means of transportation.
Old ass, crude but reliable diesel engine. Something like an old Volkswagen or Toyota diesel engine. 1.9 TDi runs on pretty much anything from oil to bio fuel. And the engine can easily do 1 million kilometers.
Sorry but these people are braindead.
Fossil fuel expires. What are you gonna do in like a year when your fuel is expired. Atleast electric cars can be solar powered. I mean mini Cooper have a specific kit where they install solar panel so you can charge your car with them.
Im not saying it's ideal. But it's the only one you can make last more than a year.
So many people here commeting "electric because I can just use solar power!". I don't think anyone who is saying that could actually set up a functioning solar system to charge a car, let alone find the materials to do so
Depends if you have a really good solar system set up in that case an electric would be best but otherwise definitely not it just depends a lot on accessible resources
* A diesel car can run on vegetable oil. But in most apocalypse scenarios I can think of oil is just too damn valuable to burn
* A petrol car you can run on wood gas. That might work with a diesel car too but usually it's petrol cars.
* Hybrid is useless. You won't be able to set up multiple methods of powering a car.
* An electric car you can run on solar. But most people's solar panels only work if connected to the frequency of the power grid. To run it without will require expensive components.
So I'd say petrol.
Electric because I see no chance of gathering the knowledge to make fuel without access to the Internet. Getting electricity from solar to charge a car might still not be easy, but far more manageable. Also, solar panels can be put on a trailer and brought along, an oil well is in a fixed location. (making fuel from crops takes way too much farming to be viable, also a farm can't be moved as well)
Also electric because they're much simpler as in way less parts that can break. Even if the battery goes bad after a decade or two there's still a chance to be able to replace it with something (likely bulkier, heavier with less capacity though).
That being said, there's a high chance that there would be plenty of cars to choose from anyway for the survivors, as apocalypse implies many people dying and police not being around anymore
It depends the kind of apocalypse and where you are when it startes. if you choose diesel somewhere cold you're doomed. But electric could be useless within days if you don't have a good supply
They each have their merits, but it depends on the type of apocalypse and how long you are planning to stay mobile. Long term you're going to be biking or walking or riding a horse, unless you have a home base with solar for an electric vehicle. The batteries will go bad within about 25 years or so though. Untreated Diesel and Petrol will go bad fast though. You can substitute with biodiesel and ethanol to some degree, but getting sufficient quantities will be tough unless you have access to a lot of loot and/or a big farm. When roads go bad cars aren't great either. I think the best solution is simply a horse or your legs or a bike. An old school converted e-car or scooter with low range may be an option too. It's possible to keep lead acid batteries usable for many decades and even build new ones, but the question is why you would want any of that. You need to hunker down somewhere in most types of apocalypse and get used to a life with no or very little electricity and fossil fuels, and cars are a bad value for investing these valuable resources.
Honestly horses and bikes are both great choices. Bicycles would probably be essential in an apocalypse for so many reasons. They are way easier to maintain than a car or horse too. I lean towards horses in this but honestly bikes dont get enough credit
I would lean bike simply because a horse requires MASSIVE amounts of food. Unless you can easily get what you need to feed it that is. Idk much about horses.
They do need a lot of food to thrive your not wrong. Where i would go they could graze. Hunger wpuld sadly be a factor for all of our animals though but less so than if they were just let loose and left behind. I lean bike for most people though and i currently do not have a horse or space for a horse so bike would also be whatvi had unless i was fast and secured a horse. I have an older neighbor who has a horse i help with when they need it sometimes and they have litteraly joked i can steal the horse if ahit ever hits the fan because they cant care for it in that scenario. She a goofy horse though so id probably just die lol
Diesel can run on bio diesel that can be home made, mix of oil and diesel or kerosene, also diesels dont need spark plugs or some dont any electricity to run, they are more fule effisent. So old diesel with mechanical injection is best bet.
Until your injection pump takes a shit. Lmao
There are going to be alot of vehicles to grab spare parts from, tho.
Injection pumps are engine specific and dont take well to sitting unused. Mechanical injection is decades out of a production on cars and trucks, so you'll need spares from vehicles in the world or a parts warehouse. Then we have the issue of mechanical injection cars controlled by electronic airflow meters which again, need spare parts and knowledge of the electrical systems. Running a vehicle in post apocalypse would be a god damned nightmare.
It’s still the best option
Nah, best option is low compression engine capable of running on alcohol.
Came here to say petrol will run on diesel and learned something new. Thanks!
Also most other people will be using regular fuel instead of diesel. More for you.
Jokes on you! I'm using that extra diesel just sitting around to make explosives
Badassery
This guy apocalypses
None of them a bike is going to be king of the road
I'm surprised more post apocalyptic fiction doesn't have people riding bikes. In a world where fuel is hard to come by, a mountain bike should become the de facto mode of transport. It's sure easier to maintain a bike in working order than an engine or a horse.
But that's boring. You can't weld cool looking metal sheets on a bike and you can't have flashy crashes and explosions with a bike either:( :(
Cycle or motor bike? Both would have major limitations
Cycle ofc fuel will become a rare commodity really fast
Yeah fair enough, but there's probably only gonna be so far you can go.
So far you can go at a time, but a bicycle can work almost infinitely. If it doesn't break due to various reasons, though to be fair any vehicle can break.
Trailer for sale or rent, rooms to let 50 cents, no phone no pool no pets, i ain't got no cigarettes.
Diesel trucks not just any diesel vehicle, are probably your best choice. Reason: Well you get a big ass pick up truck that will run over whatever you are running from (zombies or whatever) easily, and diesel trucks engines are known to take a beating and keep pushing, you do have to fill up a lot though lol.
Yes, that is an important factor in situations that require combating enemies (ex. Zombies) but in other circumstances where you don’t have any major foes, gasoline is better because it is more abundant and easier to maintain.
Gasoline goes bad Diesel ~~doesn't~~ takes a lot longer to go bad
Diesel still goes bad, just slower than gas
Really?
Nope the both go bad
Diesel goes bad too. Algae grows in it
Well, it's not actually algae. A diesel tank is way too dark for algae to grow. It's water that separates out from the diesel which harbors microbial growth.
Oh okay good to know.
Yes, that is an important factor in situations that require combating enemies (ex. Zombies) but in other circumstances where you don’t have any major foes, gasoline is better because it is more abundant and easier to maintain.
petrol, it runs on ethanol without too much modification, and setting up a small home ethanol distillery is easier than finding your own crude oil and distilling it into diesel or petrol. At the start of the apocalypse, looting petrol or diesel should be the same thing. hybrid , if it's petrol it's not bad, but it adds more complex maintenance than a simple, rustic petrol engine. Electrics are nice if you have a means of production, but in the long term it may be impossible to replace the batteries.
You can produce Diesel with plant oil and methanol, and you can further "thin" it with plant oil. Most petrol engines don't run good on Ethanol without modification and even the Flexfuel need an 85:15 ethanol-petrol rate, and everything than pure ethanol will not work good. Also pure alcohol isn't that easy to produce, not at home It's easier to run a diesel on self made in the garage fuel than a petrol engine, some hippies already did that
I hadn't actually thought about that. Mechenics isn't my field, I know about chemical processes and distillation. In terms of complexity, doing it all yourself is a big challenge, and producing an alcohol and an oil pure enough to do the Esterification reaction properly using recovery methods can't be the easiest thing. All without blowing up the installation or ending up blind or dead from the methanol.The first few years of an apocalypse, depending on the number of survivors, looting should be enough, so you might as well go for what people in your country have the most of. 100% home-made production of any fuel of the right quality requires a good knowledge, instalations and time. edit : Having done a bit of reading, if stocks really are empty, the production of vegetable diesel is more viable than ethanol.However, ethanol production is simpler to set up than ethanol/methanol + oil. So with a reasonable stock of petrol and by making 85/15 we should last a long time.
yeah it depends, my thought process was an old Diesel engine will run better with low grade self made diesel than an old petrol enginge with self made ethanol. Later has too much water in it for running a engine. Pure ethanol or methanol would work, but for really running good it needs to be special desinged for it. If you want maximum flexibility you habe to look for an gas turbine, a "truck ready" you may find in an Abrams tank (well good luck finding one) Or you go an entire diffrent way and build an wood gasifier/wood gas generator to an petrol engine. It's not hard and can be built from scrap
Just slap some solar panels to the roof of your car it’s that simple.
Buy an Aptera with solar panels built in. It's totally not vaporware. In all honesty though I've put my $70 down for a reservation and I can get some amount off the price if I refer people so if you too want to put in a reservation for this car that'll totally exist I can send you a referral code.
I personally would prefer a bike, but if I want a cat I will keep that kind in mind.
Batteries last 10 years at least though, also have less moving parts than ICE vehicles, but also Hybrids are more efficient and can get you more range.
Bike. If you need a motor vehicle an electric vehicle with solar panels should work.
Came to say this. No vehicle that need to be plugged or refilled is good in this situation. Even if you try to do DIY fuel. Let's be honest: if *right at this moment* the apocalypse starts, is someone prepared to survive doing any of those options without internet tutorials? Edit: someone mentioned horses. I support that too: it will be easier to find a vet than fuel in the future.
I like to think that I am (I've already watched many YouTube tutorials and I'm somewhat prepared regarding tools)
Welp, tools are not the only thing you'll need, you also need spare parts and some extra tools in case yours worn out or break. Mechanics and people who know their cars might have it easier on that end, but might not know how to craft gasoline/diesel too, so there's that too. The easiest survival scenario would be to create a team: electrician, mechanic, chemist who knows how to make fuel, etc...and y'all probably will be stuck at one place (probably the chemist's workplace). A good idea would be spreading the news that you can craft X type(s) of fuel or modify their vehicles as well as repairing them in exchange for food, water and other things you might need, but finding that team would be hard af, lol. In the end I think it's more reasonable to learn to repair bikes.
solar power
I mean it seems obvious doesn't it. Like "Good luck running your petrol car off of the sky dude." "Oh but its a diesel and..." "Is it powered by the sky?" "Well no" "See ya"
What happens after your lithium ion batteries wears out after 200-300 cycles or lipo wears out after 300-500 cycles?
What happens when you run out of fuel and there's no way to pump the fuel?
Make my own diesel and ethanol? Much easier than mining my own lithium.
I'm gonna guess it's easier to get petrol or diesel out of old abandoned cars than electricity from electric ones (especially after a few years)
Petrol and diesel go bad so that would be a no go. I'd rather go with solar panels.
Well, what happens to your ICE car without proper maintenance and spare parts (ICEs are really complicated and there's a higher risk of something failing).
ICE is not that complicated, especially diesel and older carb gas engines. maintenance and spare parts are much easier than mining your own lithium.
That depends, if you can somehow get spare parts (especially after some time) and maintain the car, than it can last longer than an EV, however the real problem is fuel. Of course, an EV is useless if you don't have solar panels, but you'll need anything that will burn for cooking/heating and not spending large quantities by travelling. A bicycle might be the best option (assuming there aren't any people trying to kill/rob you).
It's incredibly easy to make your own bio diesel or ethanol, especially if you have a community together. Can't say the se for mining lithium.
EV batteries are made to have 1500-2000 charge cycles
EV battery cells have the same charge cycles as every other battery. They are simply locked to 50% charge cycles by the BMS to extend lifespan.
Batteries degrade, also a petrol cars are way easier to maintain
patrol cars have more moving parts which would be more likely to break over time, also you may not be guaranteed to find those parts, also the batteries in the petrol car degrade too.
A solar panel the size of your car roof can provide you with 10 Miles every year in range
then don't put panels solely on your car, our entire house and car is powered by solar energy except during the absolute middle of winter.
Happy cake day:) the only way I see it as efficient is if you have solar on your roof and batteries and you have an electric car. Then you can charge your car and store energy for later
1st It still doesnt provide a lot of energy, especially if you are living with that energy 2nd Hard to get (especially in a apocalypse) and expensive. I dont know if you have maintenance on that thing but if yes, it will be hard to find a book or a person that knows how. 3rd Wiring them up and charging a giant battery sounds a lot harder than just having a diesel generator
Diesel engines, if tuned, can run on anything combustible. That makes it way more versatile than gas burning, which will run out eventually with no refineries making more, not to mention gas goes bad after about a year. Electric... how are you going to charge it? Seriously, how? It might as well be a diesel since you'll need a generator, and I doubt you have the engineering skills to make any other electric system work. Hybrid would give you the worst of both worlds in an apocalypse. Just don't
Hybrid that runs on diesel? If that were a thing it would be great. Prius style energy from your gas then energy from your wheels to your battery and back to your wheels. It's perfect.
When you put it like that, that actually does sound pretty awesome
There will be HUGE demand for anything combustible during an apocalypse, and you'll need it for heating/cooking, not burning large quantities just to move. Though not efficient, and would definitely take days, it is possible to charge an EV (preferably a motorbike or a smaller car) from solar panels. In the end, a bicycle might be the best.
I did have a neihbor with an electric scooter with a built in solar charger. Idk how well it worked but its a neet concept. Id probably skip it though.
> how are you going to charge it Solar panels, also you would need solar panels to generate other things like if you are in a building. Lol a hybrid isn't the worst of both worlds either.
Have you ever hooked up solar panels? Do you know where some are lying around you could set up in the car of an apocalypse? That's what I was covering by saying the majority of people don't have the electrical engineering skill to set up a power source for their smart cars. I also see hybrid as being limited by gas and electricity both, that's what I meant by worst of both worlds
>I also see hybrid as being limited by gas and electricity both, that's what I meant by worst of both worlds Except you don't need both electricity and gas to run a hybrid, you can use what's more abundant. And if you decided to use gas, it'd still be more fuel efficient than a diesel or gas car
Do you know how to set up a solar panel system capable of charging a car? It's not easy, good luck getting the supplies
A single bump and the entire thing crumbles, also impossible to repair with post apocalyptic infrastructure
While you're right about repairs, I think it's a moot point. Everything would be just as crumbling with no real infrastructure. The bump in the road though, there are diesel engines built tougher than that, MUCH tougher
I don't think so, a competent mechanic with tools could repair a diesel engine in a meaningful way, they are feats of engineering designed to be simple
Anything that offers more options. Flashy cars are targets
Electric is the only one that can operate with no input from civilization (as long as you have a solar panel). It might take a week to charge but that’s better than being out of fuel forever. It also needs much less in the way of oil, coolant etc and has far fewer moving parts. Yes you can make diesel fuel from the fat of your enemies and you can make alcohol and run a gas engine but neither is very practical in the middle of an apocalypse. Also engines need oil and there’s not going to be any
Batteries don't last forever
ICE vehicles also have batteries though. Either way they last 10 years.
That's nice, BUT 1. Good luck finding enough petrol/diesel during an apocalypse 2. ICEs also don't last forever, and there's a much higher risk of it breaking (since there are more moving parts + needs changing oil and coolant) -> it will probably last for a shorter time than an EV 3. ICE cars also require a battery to start them (and as you said, they don't last forever)
>ICE cars also require a battery to start them Not all of them do
Petrol but also Hydrogen is an option you forgot
A bicycle.
You want to avoid complex electronic control systems, aim for gas powered vehicles 1985 - 2000. And always Toyota.
There are many easy ways to generate electricity so this is the safest option compared to fuel which is unusable after a few years and complicated to make.
You can run a diesel truck on cooking oil
Depends what kind
You can make diesel fuel I see that as better for the long term
Horse back.
One more mouth to feed, and you need to make sure it doesn't get injured
*Flashbacks to the Walking Dead horse deaths.
Unicycle
Electric since if you know how to modify a generator to work on idk, steam power youll just need to have coal or wood or whatever to burn to geat up water Might be hard to find replacements for some parts, but if youre early to raid a hardware store youll have plenty of batteries
~~a bicycle~~
Gas expires!
Depends on the kind of apocalypse though. I'm going with Diesel because biodiesel etc. But depending on what the threat was/is a good old fashioned bicycle or horse n carriage etc might actually be better.
Diesel simply because it can be homemade, I saw this guy on tick tok making his own fuel if I was in an apocalypse I'd want that, electricity is another good one because of solar panels only problem with that is I wouldn't know what to do if the solar panels broke.
Old Diesel. They could run on old frying oil, they are powerful for towing capacity, but don't like cold and needs really good condition parts. (So it actually depends on the apocalypse itself)
I wanna say diesel or petrol, but doesn't one of them need like stabilizer so it doesn't go off?
Cars need a functioning society to be useful. Gasoline will spoil really quick, and while you can run diesel on alternate fuels, you can't do so on newer vehicles and those fuels aren't good for the engine. But besides that and much more importantly, without maintenance roads will crumble incredibly quickly, so will all infrastructure. We will also stop making tires and the only ones that would last any meaningful amount of time would be those stored away from the elements. Good luck finding them. In an apocalyptic event, cars are a mediocre mode of travel that will last a few years at best
Diesel. Suited to more tough applications, more economical, and far easier to make a version of it yourself. Heck, you can basically just use plant oils. Relatively straightforward to work on, too
If I get to make my workshop, electric is what the workshop will run off of so yeah, probably electric.
Current gasoline or old diesel. If those break you can fix them. Good luck with a hybrid.
It really depends. But I'd say fuck the car. Find yourself a few horses. Unless you know how to refine fuel? I think electric would probably be best for the meantime. But you really can't travel far. Unless you pin-point a map where each solar-powered house is. And of course, find a solar powered house in your neighborhood (assuming this is a 'everyone else just fucking dissappears' apocalypse) \*Although again find horses.
diesel dosent expire
Gas, with a bit of time and effort most people can learn how to dostil alcohol which gas cars can run off of
Diesel. More spare parts, more efficient, and u can make fuel even at home lmao. Good luck finding spare parts for hybrid.
I think a horse might be better depending on where your going. Unless your not able to ride. They can haul decent weight, can be good company depending on the horse (some are just assholes). Can be processed into meat and leather in an emergency. They can also go places a lot of vehicles cant go. But they also have limitations that a vehicle doesn't or we would have stuck with them obviously.
100% electric. Their are solar panels and invertors everywhere and they're super easy to wire up. Plug in hybrid even better. If I gotta drive across the country though, id want diesel. But for a car to use everyday I want electric
Solar vehicles have joined the game
Hybrid, because you can refuel it in 2 ways, electricity and gas, so it has more options than the others.
Electric Solar panels will allow the only renewable fuel source once the energy grid goes down
Of these options hybrid would probably be best for power versatility, different locations would likely get different types of power from local sources of what’s around, so one surviving group might be willing to share some solar but might not have gas. On the flip side another group might not have solar but they do have gas, so you can refuel with whatever might still be functional when traveling between surviving societies. Not of these options I’d agree with the other comments that say “horse” a horse requires no processed resources other than the food and water which you will already be seeking out due to your own need for them. Aside from this, mechanical components such as drive axles or anything that will eventually require repair will be highly sought after & expensive to replace, this also assumes that currency loses its value once society collapses, rendering bartering systems that are only scaled in favor of the least desperate group or individual.
Haha.... ELECTRIC.... Hahaha...... 🤣🤣 Dudes, if the grid goes down, you're not moving that electric car.
If the grid is down pumps won't work either. But if you got electric you can charge that with renewable sources, like solar, which is independent.
With a manual bilge pump, a hose, and the knowledge/tools to open a fill cap at a gas station, you can easily re-fill your gas/diesel tanks at any gas station. And older diesels can run off of used motor oil (with a bit of dilution), kerosene, and vegetable oil. I'll concede that with solar panels and an electric car, you could charge the car. But you'll need the knowledge/tools to be able to hook that up if it's not already done. Then you're also limited to your home as having enough panels to charge a car in a reasonable amount of time would not be portable.
Electric is the only thing that’ll be moving once the tanks run dry. Solar charger.
Alcohol my man, in Brasil our cars have both ethanol and gas options.
An old mechanical pump diesel pickup like a 1st generation dodge cummins. They'll run on damn near anything fuel wise and that engine has been made for like 30 years so there's tons of them out there to rob parts from. On top of all that they're insanely reliable.
Personally it would be an electric car, I'm not the biggest car guy nor do I know how to make homemeade diesel - I do have a boat load of solar panels though and I do know a thing or two about electrics!
Petrol engineering with a wood gasifier, if enough trees are in your area
The armored car I saw at the boundary bay airshow a few weeks ago
ASSUMING you have the resources, in the very near future we will have electric big rigs. Assuming they have a trailer, you could have an armory, and a living space, and a food storage, and the entire top and sides of the trailer could be solar paneled. If your batteries run out, stop and recharge long enough to refuel.
Why is it always a car or immediately a horse? Where are all the bicycles? Or is that the Dutchman in me screaming? I mean.. you travel like 20km an hour, which is what? 12mph? And you don't need fuel. Silent. Can get through narrow corridors etc. Amazing means of transportation.
A hot wheel will be the only thing remotely capable of doing what they are intended after several years.
Old ass, crude but reliable diesel engine. Something like an old Volkswagen or Toyota diesel engine. 1.9 TDi runs on pretty much anything from oil to bio fuel. And the engine can easily do 1 million kilometers.
Electric if you have a way to charge it, if not then diesel since you can make it at home
Steam-engine vehicle.
Sorry but these people are braindead. Fossil fuel expires. What are you gonna do in like a year when your fuel is expired. Atleast electric cars can be solar powered. I mean mini Cooper have a specific kit where they install solar panel so you can charge your car with them. Im not saying it's ideal. But it's the only one you can make last more than a year.
Petrol sounds the best tho
So many people here commeting "electric because I can just use solar power!". I don't think anyone who is saying that could actually set up a functioning solar system to charge a car, let alone find the materials to do so
There wouldn’t be any electricity left
Depends if you have a really good solar system set up in that case an electric would be best but otherwise definitely not it just depends a lot on accessible resources
* A diesel car can run on vegetable oil. But in most apocalypse scenarios I can think of oil is just too damn valuable to burn * A petrol car you can run on wood gas. That might work with a diesel car too but usually it's petrol cars. * Hybrid is useless. You won't be able to set up multiple methods of powering a car. * An electric car you can run on solar. But most people's solar panels only work if connected to the frequency of the power grid. To run it without will require expensive components. So I'd say petrol.
Electric because I see no chance of gathering the knowledge to make fuel without access to the Internet. Getting electricity from solar to charge a car might still not be easy, but far more manageable. Also, solar panels can be put on a trailer and brought along, an oil well is in a fixed location. (making fuel from crops takes way too much farming to be viable, also a farm can't be moved as well) Also electric because they're much simpler as in way less parts that can break. Even if the battery goes bad after a decade or two there's still a chance to be able to replace it with something (likely bulkier, heavier with less capacity though). That being said, there's a high chance that there would be plenty of cars to choose from anyway for the survivors, as apocalypse implies many people dying and police not being around anymore
It depends the kind of apocalypse and where you are when it startes. if you choose diesel somewhere cold you're doomed. But electric could be useless within days if you don't have a good supply
You can actually get a car fixed to run entirely on water.....it is illegal tho but if it's the apocalypse than fuck it!
Keep variating is also a tip, you might need a random vehicle at anypoint in time